’Son of the soil’ Mallya in Rajya Sabha poll fray

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, June 7, 2010: Industrialist Vijay Mallya, who lives mostly in his private jet zig-zagging the world, looked very much at home in a simple blue shirt filing papers a few minutes ago at the Vidhana Soudha for a seat again in the Rajya Sabha.

 

UB Group chairman and Kingfisher Airlines raja Mallya, 54, born in Bantwal in Mangalore region, had gladdened the heart of Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa when he proudly announced he was a "mannina maga" [son of the soil] while featuring as one of the star chief guests -- along with steel king Laksmi Mittal and top honchos like Kumar Mangalam Birla and Shashi Ruia -- at the June 3-4 state Government organised global investors meeting in the city.

Leveraging on his Kannadiga credentials and his comfortable equation with both the BJP and the JD-S, Mallya trooped into the nomination office at the Vidhana Soudha today a little before 3pm flanked by H.D. Kumaraswamy and his brother H.D. Revanna, JD-S leaders and sons of party honcho H.D. Deve Gowda.

The owner of the IPL cricket team Royal Challengers also spoke a few words in Kannada after the filing saying he will raise issues concerning the state in the Rajya Sabha.

Last week, Yeddyurappa was also by Mallya’s side when he threw open a private-public-participation road (built by the UB Group & city developers Prestige group) named after his father Vittal Mallya, a Konkani Brahmin, who founded the UB Group that fell into Vijay Mallya’s hands in 1984; since then he has transformed the company into a $ 11-billion-dollar multi-national conglomerate of over 60 companies. His interests range from Formula One team, Force India, to sponsoring Kolkata football teams East Bengal and Mohun Bagan and running a stud farm in Kunigal near Bangalore which is where much of the discussions to run for the fourth Rajya Sabha seat were held.

In 2000, Mallya entered the political fray replacing Subramanian Swamy as president of Janata Party. Almost six years ago, he bid and bought a sword that belonged to Mysore warrior Tipu Sultan. Around March 2009, he also bid for some of the belongings of Mahatma Gandhi at a New York auction house.